Urban Planning

Chapter-3
City Planning in Post-Industrial Revolution Era;
Background: Industrial revolution and its impact.
Industrial revolution from late 18th century onwards may be taken as a cut-off line between ancient
and modern urban planning. Until then all goods had been assembled and produced by hand. Shops
were modest and generally located in the home of the proprietor. The number of employees was
small.

Many inventions had occurred throughout the history. In 1769 James Watt invented the steam
engine; with it mechanical power became independent of direct operation by hand. This power was
applied to the work place and the production of goods grew. With increased production, trade
expanded, the shop moved from home to factory.

Industrialization was a boon to the growing population all over the world. Its affects like rising
production and pace of life created chain reactions affecting both the natural and built environment.
Inventions like elevators and automobiles have dramatically changed the shape and size of our cities.
Industrialization changed the production and consumption patterns in society.

The invention of machinery to produce goods quickly than the human hand led to major changes in
the nature work and the duties of the work force. The introduction of mechanical power to drive
several machines at a time needed the assembly of workers and machines in one building called
factory. Textiles produced by hand replaced by machines.

At first industrial development occurred on a small scale powered by water. Later coal was used for
steam engines, which could drive many machines by drive belts. New settlements grew up near the
coal mines. The emphasis shifted from production of textiles to iron & steel, and then to
manufactured goods as a result of technological development. These were aimed to cater to homes as
well as overseas markets. People flocked to the new industrial towns.

In the later stages other forms of power were developed which could be transmitted to longer
distances like gas and electricity. This helped anything could develop anywhere. Development was
attracted to areas which already established as industrial centres, because they offered skilled
workers, infrastructure and the markets. Transport routes for distribution of goods became more
important than producing near the source of raw materials because of the availability of power grids.

The new city work force may be classified as under;

 Primary workers – Those employed in agriculture and mining, etc

 Secondary workers – Those employed in manufacturing and construction,
 Tertiary workers – Those employed in offices, trade, services, transportation etc.

There were also major changes in the nature of life styles. The changes occurred in the division of
social classes, the family, the community and the relationship between home and work. All these
reflected in the layout and zoning of towns & cities. The structure of society changed with new class
division. More people started working outside their home, in industries, establishments etc.
Industrial working class emerged. Workers were housed near the factory to work for set hours every
day. The factories were clustered together with housing around for the workers.
Changes occurred in the family structure of the society. The traditional joint family system was
disappearing to nuclear families. Medical advances lead to reduction in infant mortality. Migration
of poor workers made them to settle near the factories & mills in poorly built housing conditions.
Local transport was not developed to the extent required. People were residing near their places of
employment created overcrowding, health and sanitary problems. Unplanned growth of cities
affected each part of the city. Blight in cities and slums appeared. Traffic hazards increased. The
whole urban environment was polluted. Indiscriminate use of land had simultaneously created high
land values and speculations. Worst part of the city had highest density of people lacking green lung
spaces and recreation areas.

Rail road tenement:

Tenements (also called tenement houses) are urban dwellings occupied by impoverished families.
They are apartment houses that barely meet or fail to meet the minimum standards of safety,
sanitation, and comfort. Housing was scarce, particularly for working-class families.

During the Industrial Revolution, many tenements were built to house working-class families, many
of whom were moving to cities to work manufacturing jobs. Communal water taps and water closets
could often be found in the narrow spaces between tenements. An 1865 report asserted that 500,000
people lived in tenements.

A railroad apartment (or railroad flat) is an apartment with a series of rooms connecting to each other
in a line. The name comes from the layout's similarity to that of a typical passenger train.

Railroad apartments first made an appearance in New York City in the mid-19th century, and were
designed to provide a solution to urban overcrowding. Many early railroad apartments were
extremely narrow, and most buildings were five or six stories high. Few early buildings had internal
sanitation, and bathrooms emptied raw sewage into the back yard. In some cases, one family would
take up residence in each room, with the exterior hallway providing communal space.

many of these narrow, low-rise Rail road tenements concentrated in the city's Lower East Side
neighbourhood–were all too often cramped, poorly lit and lacked indoor plumbing and proper
ventilation.
Views of cramped Railroad tenements

( Source: https://allthatsinteresting.com/tenement-new-york-photos-facts#6)

Dumbbell Plan:

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, New York City swelled with wave after wave of European
immigrants — and many lived in tenement buildings. These tenements, as defined by the New York
State Legislature in 1867, constituted “any building…which is rented…out as the home of more than
three families living independently of one another and doing their own cooking upon the premises.”

The dumbbell tenement was so called from the shape of its floor plan. It covered 80% of its site with
solid building block, relieved by minimal air and light shafts along each parity walls.

The 2000 blocks created in the 1811 Commissioners’ plan were subdivided into 25’x100’
(8mx30m) lots, the narrow end towards the street. The plan’s failure to make any provision for mid
block alley ways thwarted the potential for additional accessible units through subdivision. By mid
century lots sized for a single family row house with back yard were loaded with tenement housing
that covered 90% of the site or more.

The well-intentioned Tenement House Act of 1879 gave birth to probably the worst legalized
building form in the world.
 Typical Plan of Dumbbell shaped tenement house

View of Dumbbell tenement on terrace Street as drying yard of Dumbbell tenements

Modern Urban Planning Initiatives:

The industrial cities gradually became bad to worse. The environmental deterioration led to
inefficient and unhealthy labour force affecting production. Laissez-faire took deep root in the affairs
of men as the commercial city formed. Thus the welfare of the masses became inevitable to restrain
on laissez-faire. In view of sad conditions of housing developed with the factory system, eventually
forced the enactment of many laws to curb the abuses. Regulations for light, air and lot coverage, etc
were accepted for residential buildings. Restriction on commercial and industrial buildings remained
rare. Commercial structures were permitted to occupy 100% lot area.
Steel constructions and elevators pushed the buildings even higher, with light and ventilation from
road side only. The advent of sky scrapper had made the need for appropriate regulation more and
more apparent. Many nations developed regulations to control height, ground coverage, materials to
be used to prevent fire, services, etc.

Utopian Visions:

1) Robert Owen.

The depressed condition of housing for poor impressed some 19th century industrial leaders, who
recognised their privilege, was connected to the masses of their workers on whom they are
dependent. Many utopian plans were presented by industrialists. In 1797 the society for bettering the
conditions of the poor was formed. A number of Utopian communities were proposed. One such
plan was put forth by Robert Owen.

Owen was the proprietor of a cotton mill at New Lanark in Manchester, England, where he had
successfully introduced reforms in the working conditions, hours, and wages for operatives in his
plant. Owen saw beyond even these reforms. In 1816 he set forth an unusual plan for a cooperative
community that combined industry and agriculture. It was designed to hold about 1,200 people. He
believed it could become self supporting and reduce the heavy cost of public relief. Owen further
proposed that similar communities be established at appropriate intervals in the country side.

Rows of dwellings were grouped about a large open space in which communal buildings were
located. Surrounding the dwellings area were large gardens. This entire area in turn was encircled by
a main roadway. On one side of the compound were factories and workshops, Beyond, on all sides,
was the agriculture belt, to range in size from 1,000 to 1500 acres to supplement industrial
employment.

Artists image of Utopian vision of Robert Owen for model town

Artists image of Utopian vision of Robert Owen for model town
(Refhttps://www.google.co.in/search?q=Robert+Owen+self+supporting+community&source=lnms&tbm=is
ch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjE3f6pheDoAhXLXisKHaXhBAUQ_AUoAXoECBAQAw&biw=1366&bih=657#imgrc=Qb
ImtMRWhPwmrM)

2) J.S. Buckingham,

Another Utopian, the English architect J.S. Buckingham, in 1849 published a treatise entitled
“National evils and practical remedies,” in which he described his plan for a model town for an
“Associated Temperance Community of about 10,000 inhabitants.”Buckingham adhered to the
contemporary distinction of class. He placed the finer houses near the center of his town and the
humble dwellings and workshops of the working class about the periphery.

Figure showing the plan of Model Town by J S Buckingham ( Ref: Google images)
 3) George Cadbury

Recognizing the desirability of good housing for their workers and stimulated by the unexecuted
proposals of the Utopians, Industrialists undertook to build model communities. One of such person
was George Cadbury, the English chocolate manufacturer, moved his plant from Birmingham to a
rural site and began the town of Bourneville in 1879. Originally a company town, this community
became an autonomous village in about 1900. Today it contains some 2000 dwellings.

View of Cadbury factory town at Bournville

(Ref: Google Images)

Film on Bournville link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbX_WvpgL0o

 4) Tony Garnier (Cité Industrielle).

Tony Garnier (1869 - 1948) was a noted architect and city planner. He was most active in his
hometown of Lyon. Garnier is considered the forerunner of 20th century French architects.

Cité Industrielle, urban plan designed by Tony Garnier and published in 1917 under the title of Une
Cité Industrielle. It represents the culmination of several philosophies of urbanism that were the
outgrowth of the Industrial Revolution in 19th-century Europe.

The Cité Industrielle was to be situated on a plateau in southeastern France, with hills and a lake to
the north and a river and valley to the south. The plan takes into consideration all the aspects
necessary to running a Socialist city. It provides separate zones for separate functions, a concept later
found in such new towns

The planning was for a modern industrial city. The civic center and the residential centers were
separated from the factory area by the ‘Green Belt.’The highways and railway traverse the green belt
to avoid any development abutting the regional route.
( Image Ref:
https://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fac%2F93%2Ffd%2
Fac93fde5479369aec8c0ca4d08d65779.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F517
562182153570424%2F&tbnid=q9lwpSNj1OMt_M&vet=12ahUKEwiSuLPqm-
DoAhVVjksFHbTVARoQMygHegUIARDhAQ..i&docid=JrUUx0Cg0Qii2M&w=563&h=390&q=tony%20garnier%
20cit%C3%A9%20industrielle&hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwiSuLPqm-DoAhVVjksFHbTVARoQMygHegUIARDhAQ )

Books & References:

1) Urban Pattern by Arthur B Gallion

2) Text book of Town Planning by Abir Bandopadhyay
3) Urban Planning Theory & Practice by M Pratap Rao
4) Human Settlements; a planning guide to beginners by Dr K R Thooyavan.
5) Wikipedia
6) Google Articles

Other references to students:

1) http://urbanplanning.library.cornell.edu/DOCS/buckham.htm